To my knowledge the campaign will center on our positions as bounty hunters on French's airship. The story is player driven, which means we need a little more than that. The PCs have to either know another at the start or have reason to 'adventure' together for the first session(s). I figure at least one or two of us will already be a part French's crew. Or maybe French will be alone (just acquired the ship?) and uses our first adventure as an opportunity to recruit us onto his craft. We also need to decide if we operate lawfully, as licensed bounty hunters or some such, or if we are outlaws. I think it'd be best to post ballpark backgrounds so we can establish relationships between characters and then take it from there.

Sarx was named by his adoptive dwarf father, owner of the Mathai Annals. Sarx was taken in as an infant, abandoned at the stair steps to the most acclaimed Mathai museum. Dolsar Grimstone, chief director of the annals, is a shrewd and stubborn father. A busy man, Dolsar left much of Sarx's upbringing to hired hands. As a child Sarx was very much the troublemaker, both in his private schools and with his nannies. He found great delight in causing mischief with his innate psionic talent, a quality his peers often lacked. When his father did look after him, it was often at the museum, with stern instructions not to touch anything or interrupt anyone. Sarx never acted up in the presence of his father, but rather listened to his conversations regarding the museum's affairs.

Growing up, Sarx learned he had a lot of weight to throw around. Museum staff acted differential towards him for fear of his father. School staff gave him the benefit of the doubt as the son of a generous donor and partner. Sarx could usually squeeze what he wanted from people but was surrounded by friends interested more in his mischief and power. There was never a person near when he was down, and his band of friends usually rotated out with the school term. None of his tutors or babysitters ever found him endearing, nor has he ever been able to empathize with anyone but himself.

Having been able to placate most of his life's desires, Sarx wonders what to make of himself now that he's older. He doubts his utility to the museum, believing it a venture far best left to others. He wonders what he is capable of without his father but fears leaving the nest. It has long gnawed on him why his birth-parents ever abandoned him in the first place, or what'd it be like to tread amongst his own kind rather than humans, dwarves, gnomes and elves. He broods these things while indulging in prearranged hunts, his latest fad. His preference is for thistle and pronged arrows, since even if a shot doesn't kill an animal it'll usually bleed to death for collection later.

Helena's true background is a mystery, even to her, though she does have some idea of what she used to do for a living over a hundred years ago.

Helena's story begins with her awakening upon a small crag overlooking a vast empty space of twisting winds. She had no memory of who she was or how she had arrived on this desolate small island floating far into the sky. She sat there for days until she spotted a large ship in the distance which flew right next to her island. Luckily they saw and rescued her.

She spent the next 6 months traveling with the since she had no other place to go. The crew took notice of her intelligence and when they pulled into the port of Mael'na they told her to visit the local college. She quickly became friends with the Dean due to her outstanding problem solving capabilities, able to solve equations that had plagued a few researchers for years. She was then hired on to work at the college as the librarian and a part time professor. After about 30 years of service it became abundantly clear that Helena was not a normal person, for she did not age.

She soon began to experience nightmares of her traversing an ancient tomb with carvings in a strange language. She brought the dream to the dean's attention and he explained that the described language was an ancient language that has existed since the dawn of Terran colonization. He then recommended that Helena go to the local Museum, where she would meet Dolsar Grimstone, a shrewd business man that she would occasionally assist with historical work.

After spending some time at the museum over the next few years she became significantly more interested in the archaeological aspects of being a historian, so with funding from the college and the museum she set out with a crew and began to sail between islands, learning to speak many languages in the process. After 3 years abroad she returned to her work at the college and gave many of the recovered artifacts to the museum.

While on one of her visits to the museum a man approached her with tears in his eyes, exclaiming his joy to see his friend alive. He ranted on about he thought he was going crazy, see his friend, who went missing 80 years ago and hadn't aged. She spoke well to the Dwarf and learned a few things of her past, and of the culture during the Age of Rebirth. Alas the joy of old friendships was not to last, for Murag, her old friend and shipmate, died only 2 weeks after they're reunification. For another 18 years she continued to read in the college library and visit the museum on a quarterly basis. To this day sh estill desires to go abroad again and explore the world to find its most ancient mysteries.

Her mother summoned her first eidolon when she was three, killed her first rouge wizard at nine, slaughtered her first army at 16, founded her first magical college at 24, then disappeared at age 34 two years after childbirth.

Her father was a wise older human who's power was once so great that he lead as second in command in the Arcanic Counsel of Seven. After his term he retired from politics and now serves as leader of the Necromatic division of the Zamph College of Mages.

At the age of seven, Gio discovered that her brother Tanoowin's (a human) pet cat had been dead for years. A year later he enrolled as a student mage of honor at Zamph, thus allowing him to slip past the age requirement of 14. A few months later Tanoo he found his magical equals among the third year students. four years later he applied for graduation by summoning a 20 man undead squad, unfortunately a small shock to the head (source officially unknown) disrupted his concentration causing the undead squad to turn on itself and riot. Half a year later he finally received his honors after impressing the entire counsel by having a freshly slain half-giant ride an undead skeletal worm. He now works as a Instructor/ researcher at Zamph stuck waiting until he is old enough to hold office.

As an infant, Gio was adored and celebrated by family and community alike. The great hero Zamph birthing a child of celestial decent both solidified her reputation and ensured a proper heroic heir. Fearing for her fragility, Zamph sheltered her child from the world and only allowed special visitation to certain individuals. Her mother would often sing to Gio in Auran, surprisingly she became quite fluent in both Common and Auran by Month 16. Gio seemed to inherit her mothers love of books and reading, she had finished with her mother's personal library by age 7. She enrolled in Zamph at the same time her twin did. Her father hired attendants to watch over Gio confined her to the institution at all times. she often turned escaping and evading her attendees into a game.

A few months after enrollment, Gio failed her first class. A week later Gio failed to rise an undead goldfish. During an attempted flee from her attendees, Gio discovered her natural electrical resistance after diving into a live magic range. A year later She was left behind, again, during an exposition to a new-found island headed by her father and commanded by her brother. A year later she finished every book in the mage's public library. At age nine she build her first crossbow, It was a little rough, but it worked. Two years later she developed a minor shock bolt (Tested successfully).A few months later after a total of three years of research and development and thousands of gold pieces, Gio perfected her greatest work: The AetherFlow. a week later Gio made her first friend: K9-M#4456, a dog-like automaton powered by her Aetherflow engine. After receiving one last look of disgust from her father, Gio successfully escaped her captors during the commotion caused by an undead attempting to ride a dead wurm. At age 11 Gio leaped from one of the schools towers and made a stealthy escape from her prison.

Gio was able to evade her pursuers by hiding in the hull of a small ship(Gray's) at a nearby harbor town...

Flynn Burke: a tale of hardship and loss. As a young lad, he joined an adventuring organization specializing in finding new materials for the latter part of the Age of Invention. These new found materials were crucial to the building of the Tua adapter that exists today. There was nothing more exciting than these quests for innovation.

After the invention of the Tua Adapter, each new quest took place in a new far reaching landscape. Every new place was exciting and thrilling... then the Djinn Nation attacked. The guild was mercilessly slaughtered. It was a miracle that Flynn survived. He hid until the ship, manning pilotlessly, eventually floated to a place with some sort of civilization. He could not believe what he had witnessed and it scared the heebie-jeebies out of him. However, Flynn knew that he had to go on in the world; he needed to find something to keep his spirits up in this life.

Craving the adventure, Flynn decided to start up his own adventuring crew. He hired out a few people willing to join in on his entrepreneurial venture. It was a success. Bonds with the crew mates formed easily and he eventually was reveried by receiving his unofficial title, "Captain." As soon as things were looking up, another terrible tragedy happened. The crew lacked experience. It was evident when his party was raided by a rival adventure guild, 'Adamantine Alliance.' Flynn tried to do what he could for his crew, but it was too late. He was barely able to maneuver his vessel away.

Upon reaching back to Melna, Flynn sunk into a great depression. 'Everything I come to enjoy gets destroyed..' With the remaining money he saved, he docked his ship at the harbor and proceeded to drown himself in alcohol. Not even the intoxication was enough to ease his pain. He wanted to leave the ship and escape from the painful memories, but he couldn't bring himself to it.

A number of months had passed with little change until one strange day, something odd occurred. There was always some kind of commotion going on at the docks, but this time the shouting seem to come from all over the place. "Stop!" "Get back here!" 'Way too loud.. why don't people ever shut up?!' *CRASH* 'what the f--' Flynn stumbled around to his cargo hold, where he found a wispy little girl, holding onto one of his precious artifacts. "Hey! don't touch that!" he yelled as he grabbed for it. Missing terribly, he fell onto the ground. The little girl just standing there stared at him. A small moment passed as Flynn slipped into unconsciousness. He woke to the sound of tinkering. Slowly getting up, he made his way to where the noise was happening. *beep* *whirrrrr* He barely made it to the doorway of the "workshop," a little area for inspecting the new found artifacts. The little girl turned to him with a slight smile, "I fixed it." she said. His precious artifact from earlier was now slightly glowing and hovering emanating a cooling sensation. "It seems to be some sort of temperature control. Seems like it'll be a nice addition to your ship." Flynn looked on with amazement. "Little girl.. May I ask your name?"

From then on, Flynn and Gio seemed to hit it off. Gio's enthusiasm for building things sparked something within Flynn he hadn't felt in a long time. Inventions.. Adventure.. He heard his past calling his name and beckoning him to go back. One night at dinner, Flynn asked, "Gio. How would you like to go on an adventure?" After that, 'Burke's Wandering Guild' was reestablished. Through their little undertakings to regain recognition in society, they came across a rather burly and obscene gal at a tavern that was looking for a good time. Towards the end of the night she was begging to be part of the organization after crying that she had literally nothing better in life to do. It was a weird happenstance, but Sammy's strength proved itself worthwhile on many tasks. Things were starting to look up again.

Some more time had passed. Flynn and the crew had just finished up their latest task. "Let's go enjoy some time at the bar!" Sammy excitedly suggested. "Man.. there wasn't anything new and interesting during this job.." Gio pouted. "Hold on, gals. Let's go see if there's a new request yet. Maybe something will come up that is more exciting." Flynn responded. Upon reaching the quest box, there was, in fact, a letter within it. "OH! YAY! Someplace fun?" Gio giddily asked.

Dear Burke's Wandering Guild,

You have hereby been summoned to the Mathai Annals. Your services are requested.

-- Helena Tracer

"Hmm.. the Mathai Annals. This should be interesting." Flynn grinned.

Usefull skills:DiplomacyBluffProfession (Sailor)

Last edited by FrenchPopo on Sat Sep 19, 2015 4:18 am; edited 4 times in total

It was a routine scouting mission assigned to Sammy and her teacher Spencer. Nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened on one of these missions and Sammy expected the same out come out of this one. The land of Ki was peaceful and nature didn't bother you as long as you respected it. Time had passed on and day turned to night. As Sammy and Spencer were near the end of there shift Spencer noticed something unfamiliar off the path. Spencer told Sammy to stay put and that he would be right back. A few minutes passed and still Spencer had not returned. Sammy had begun to get worried. She knew Spencer was a stronger warrior then she, but he still might be in need of some help. So without a second thought Sammy followed Spencer's footprints and eventually came across a dark cave. She noticed that some vines had been recently cut allowing a small entrance into the dwelling. As Sammy entered this unfamiliar place an ear piercing scream erupted from the back. The scream was followed by several pleas of help. Uncertain at first but now unmistakably this voice belonged to Spencer. Sammy ran further into the cave yelling fort Spencer over and over again, until finally a limp form entered her torchlight. Tears began to form around Sammy's eyes for she knew it was Spencer that lay before her. She ran up to him and began to weep. Spencer's eyes opened and only terror came from them. He looked up at Sammy and with his last breath he said, "RUN SAMMY, RUN!!!" As Spencer spoke his last words, red eyes appeared from all over the ceiling surrounding her. Without hesitation Sammy ran back towards the exit. The sound of screeching and wings flapping were all she could here. The exit was in sight, but the wings kept getting closer and closer. Sammy knew she wasn't going to make it and she wasn't about to go down without killing one of these bastards. As she was about to turn around and fight, a humanoid figure came sprinting in through the opening yelling for her to get down. As Sammy dove to the floor she heard a whizzing noise fly right over her followed by some heavy thumping noises and squeals. Sammy crawled further away from the creatures and peered over her shoulders to see what was happening. The human ran past her catching whatever he had thrown at the enemies. Immediately he chucked it right back into the mass of winged creatures. The weapon hit one bouncing off it straight into the others. Whenever this weapon hit it sent that winged creature straight into a wall, crushing any bones it had. As this slaughter continued Sammy couldn't help but be impressed with this warriors skills and must find out what he is using to fend off these creatures. The battle was over in an instant. Sammy ran to retrieve the body of Spencer and headed straight back out the cave. The warrior came out of the cave after her and to her shock, he was only carrying a shield. He escorted her back to her home village and then disappeared before anyone could thank him. Although the loss of Spencer weighed heavily on Sammy she vowed to become stronger and she knew how to do so.Years later Sammy was stuck in some backwater town. The life of adventuring was harder then she thought. She decided to look for new work in the local tavern. But what ended up as a job search became many pints of ale later. Under even poorer judgment then normal Sammy started hitting on some unlucky but sexy soul at the bar. (This sexy soul happens to be French) Straight forward was the only way Sammy knew how to get things done. She walked up to this stud and said, "Hey sexy, how about showing a lady a good time."

French answers yes:

Sammy's eyes sparkle as she takes up a fighting position and throws a terrifying punch right at French. As she gets ready for a second punch she smiles and says, "fair warning, only a man who can beat me in a fight can bed with me." She followed this remark with a second punch knocking French unconscious.

French answers no:

Sammy's face becomes raged as she starts cussing French out followed by many fists. He immediately loses consciousness

French wakes up and finds his crew restraining this drunk maniac. Realizing her strength he gives Sammy two choices. Either join his crew and work until she pays for the damages to his face or go enjoy lots of time behind bars. So to this day Sammy works on French ship. She's nbot for sure how long its going to take to pay off his face though.

Nailo's character is a violent, belligerent sexual predator who stalks men three-and-a-half decades her senior. Forever my quest to learn why she's against men who can't smash her in. Also managed to break the taboo of using real names some eight times. Hand-waves pathfinder combat rules in the name of good anime intros.

So what I meant to discuss was the start. You have something in mind Elite, or should we be putting up ideas? Like: Loki/Myself hire out French's odd-jobs ship to investigate some island because . Crew already has other three characters included. I've no idea how big the ship is or if there's NPC crewmates.

I have nothing planned for you guys yet. I am largely reactionary in this game, that being said before the first session you should have something planned and tell me what that is. Right now I got that Ippy and Loki are going to try and join Popos ship and that you want a bounty hunter/ odd job sort of campaign. After everyone is aboard are you going to find a bounty board and go for any job? Hire yourselves off as Mercs? Try to join a guild or criminal ring? Ram your boat into the ground and die?

Or do something completely different?Whatever it is I need to know. If you want to hire Popos boat to go to some island that's competently up to you and Popo.

I vote for the island hiring. My character would use it as a perfect excuse to do field work and finally get Ippy's character out to see the world. I can imagine that conversation now.

"Helena, why in the Dains do you want more funding, you've already gotten us some relics from the past and i haven't had the time to catalog all those yet.""Its for your son Dolsar. He doesn't like being here at the museum. He spends his days appeasing his desire to do more.""BAH! how would you know that?""I don't. In fact i have no idea what the hell he does in his free time, but he does look bored a lot. It'll be good for him.""Mmmmmm. Fine fine whatever. You have a good ship and crew in mind i trust?"".....Yeeeessss?""Was that a question?"".....Noooo?""...""... I'll go tell him to pack then.""You'd best not get him into trouble... damned woman."

I thought some of you might like this. I just copied and pasted this directly from the srd under pirate crews.

Captain

Many people have a misunderstanding about the role and authority of the pirate captain. Most pirate captains are elected by the ship’s crew, and need to possess qualities of leadership and courage that inspire their crew to follow them and rely on their acumen in battle. A captain is expected to be daring and decisive during any engagement.The captain is commonly looked upon with respect, as a knowledgeable leader of men, and if the crew starts to feel he does not fit this role they will throw him out when the next chance for a vote arises. During chase or in a battle the captain's power is absolute and he can discipline anyone who disobeyed his orders. He also has life or death power over anyone taken as prisoner. The captain usually has skills in navigation and seamanship.But first and foremost he has to have the type of personality required to hold together a rowdy crew of seamen.

Quartermaster

The quartermaster is next in line after the captain in exercising authority over the pirate crew. His authority on the ship takes up where the captain’s leaves off. Whenever the ship is not in chase or battle, the quartermaster makes most of the decisions regarding the day-to-day ship activities, and actually often has authority over the captain on many routine matters. The quartermaster is also elected by the crew, and is expected to represent their interests, for which he receives an extra share of the treasure. His main function is to protect the crew against each other by maintaining order, settling squabbles, and distributing food. The quartermaster usually also keeps the account books for the ship. He can punish the crew for disobedience and frequently mediates minor disputes among the crew. The quartermaster also quite often leads any boarding action, being the first to board the Prize ship. If the pirates are successful, he decides what plunder to take.If the pirates decide to keep a captured ship, the quartermaster often takes over as the captain of that ship.

Sailing Master

This is the officer in charge of piloting, navigation, and the actual sailing of the ship. He determines the course and looks after any and all instruments needed to navigate the ship. Since the skills of a sailing master are very specific and valuable on any ship, many have to be forced into pirate service.

Boatswain or Bos’n

A boatswain’s duty is to supervise the maintenance of the ship and its naval provisions, such as tar, pitch and tallow, spare sails, etc. He must inspect the ship, sails and rigging each day, and report their condition to the quartermaster or captain, as appropriate. The boatswain is also in charge of all deck activities, such as weighing or dropping anchor, and handling of the sails.

Carpenter

The carpenter’s duty is the maintenance and repair of the wooden hull, masts and yards. He works under the orders of the boatswain. The carpenter checks the hull regularly, repairing it as needed. The carpenter has no authority and cannot give any orders; nonetheless he is a privileged person, and on many ships receives a slightly larger share than the rest of the crew.

Master Gunner

The master gunner is accountable for the ship's guns and ammunition. This includes sifting the gunpowder, to keep it dry and prevent it from separating; making certain that the cannon balls are free of rust, and that all weapons are in good repair. A knowledgeable gunner is essential to the crew's safety and effective use of the ship’s cannons.

Mate

On large ships there is quite often more than one mate aboard. The mate serves as apprentice to the sailing master, boatswain, carpenter and gunner; helping out wherever he is needed. He takes care of the outfitting of the vessel, and makes certain that the ship is amply provided with ropes, pulleys, sails, and all the other rigging that is necessary. When in port, the mate is responsible for the repair of cables and anchors, and manages the sails, yards and mooring of the ship.

Surgeon

The surgeon is responsible for the fitness of the crew, and the treatment of the sick and wounded. As another person with critical skills that are sought after in many places, the surgeon is also often an unwilling recruit on a pirate vessel.Accordingly, the surgeon may not be allowed to leave the vessel on which he is engaged before the voyage is accomplished, either for boarding parties or for shore leave.

Sailor

The common sailor, who is the foundation of the ship’s operation, needs to know the rigging and the sails. He needs to understand how to maneuver the ship and how to sail under different wind conditions. A good sailor can discern weather patterns, read the stars, and, most importantly, can anticipate the wishes of his commanders.A ship’s crew must work together in careful synchronization to maneuver a large sailing vessel while tacking or wearing the vessel, or while docking or weighing anchor. A capable crew is critical during battle maneuvers, when the exact position of a ship makes all the difference.